Taxi dispatch board



Jan. 2, 1951 H A, JONES 2,536,290

TAXI DISPATCH BOARD Filed Aug. 23, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l Fig. @90

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v l BY 9 WWW Jam 2, 1951 H. A. JoNEs 2,536,290

TAXI DISPATCH BOARD Hi/ben A. Jones INVENTOR.

BY Mwnm @gy/daa Jan. 2, 1951 H A JQNES 2,536,290

TAXI DISPATCH BOARD Filed Aug. 23, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 H /ber/ A Jones IN VENTOR.

BY www* MLM Patented Jan. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES PAT-ENT OFFICE TAXI DISPATCH BOARD Hilbert A. `iones, San Diego, Calif. yApplication August 23, 1948, Serial N o. 45,762

l 2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to manually controlled eiec'tr1cal sign boards and more vpar- 'ticularly to a taxi dispatch board system, wherelby a dispatcneris enabled to Keep Ya currentre'cord or the geographical disposition or' the taxi 4cabs and the number or name or tne cab `and/ or .driver who nrst arrives at each stand.

ln brief, the invention includes a map of the territory concerned and provided Wlth a plurality .of lamps sltuated to correspond with the geographical disposition of tne stands in tne territory. hese lamps are connected in series with another set or' lamps arranged numerically on a taxi `stand directory. A control bo-ard has individual jacks Wlth numbered plugs corresponding Ato the number of cabs or drivers, the control board being numbered in accordance with the map and directory and a small number of jacks being associated with each numbered location on the control board. One of the .jacks at each lthat stand on arrival.

A primary object of this .invention is,`therefore, to allow a dispatcher to have anaccurate, easily interpreted running record of .the disposition of the cabs under his control.

Another object of this invention is to provide bothan illuminated map and an illuminated directory, in conjunction with a control board .-whereon the numbers of the drivers vor cabs at or approaching the diierent stands coact to provide very easily interpreted signals whereby undue concentation of cabs at lany onesta-nd will .be prevented.

Still another object of this 'invention is to provide a dispatch board system which will indicate at a glance which drivers or cabs are inactive or 01T duty.

.Still .another object of this invention is toprovide a dispatch board system which is'ideal'ly designed for use with telephone or radio communication linking the different stands with the dispatcher, complete information as rtothe disposition of the cabs being attained by manipulation of simple plugs ina control board and -in a .dead panel disposed adjacent thereto.

Anda last object to be mentioned speciea'llyis to .provide 1'a dispatch board system whichisprelatively inexpensive and practicable to manufacture, which is simple and convenient to use, and which `will give gener-ally .efcient and durable service. y Y l y With these objects definitely in View, this invention resides in certain novel vfeatures of construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions as will be hereinafter describedin detail in the specification, particularly pointed out inthe appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form amaterial part of this application, and inwhich:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the illuminated map;

Figure 2 is a three dimensional view of the directory having numerically ordered lamps;

Figure 3 is an end elevational View of the control board with a dead panel mounted on the top thereof;

ligure 4 Vis a lfragmentary iront elevational view of portions of the control board and dead panel;

vFigure 5 is a transverse vertical section of the control board and a lower portion of the dead panel;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail vertical sectional view showing the arrangement of the lamp mountings which may be substantially lduplicated in both the inap and the directory;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary front elevational View :of these lamp mountings which are numbered to indicate the diiierent taxi stands in the territory concerned;

y Figure 8 is a fragmentary rear elevational View of the cabinet housing the lcontrol board;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary elevational view of that portion of the multi-pronged disconnector `plugs which is secured to a rear -panel on a cabinet housing the control board;

Figure l0 is a view indicating lhow the jacks are arranged at one of the numbered loc-ations corresponding to a single stand, on the control boa-rd;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View of one of these jacks, andcontiguous struc- .ture including the corresponding plug;

Figure-12 is a verticalsectional View taken substantially on the line l2-l2 in Figure 9;

Figure 13 is a three ydimensional View of one ofthe above mentioned plugs, a portion of the head of the plug being broken away andthe un- Iderlying parts being shown in section and in televation; and

Figur-e 14 is a diagrammatic View indicating "in fa generalmanner the `electrical connections in this dispatch board system.

ySimilar characters .of reference indicate similar or vi'izlentical elements v`and portions throughout the lspecification and throughout the several views in thedrawings. Y

:Referring ,now to the drawings in detailthis .dispatch board system includes a unit ,which will ibereferred to sim-ply .as the map it, directory .l,2,.a .control 4board Mend a deadpanel it. The .control board ,will .be mounted .as a front panel .member in .a cabinet `l e which win-.ordinarily Contain-.a step-down transformer 2.@ .powered yasinidicated at 22 by electricity obtained from regular sources and lead into the cabinet through a plug 24 connected to the primary of the transformer. The secondary of the transformer is connected by a lead 26 ,to a metal plate 28 on the upper side of the control board lil, while the other side of the secondary of the transformer is connected to a common contact plate 39, indicated in Figure v6, on the rear side of the map i0, by means of a lead 32.

The metal plate 28 is provided with a plurality of apertures 34, each provided with a spring contact collet 36 to receive the metal portion 88 of one of the plugs generally indicated at 49, in Figure 13. It may be here noted that each of the plugs 48 is provided with an insulating head 42 which will be grasped by the hand of the dispatcher. A somewhat similar spring contact collet 44 is mounted on the lower panel portion 45 of the control board and in alignment with each of the apertures 313 in the upper panel of the control board, and if reference be now had to Figure 10, it will be clear how a plurality oi these jacks are used, each jack being thought of as comprising a spring contact collet 35 and the spring contact collet structure 44 aligned therewith, it being preferred that three of these jacks 48 are associated with a small plate 59 at each of the locations on the control board lli numerically corresponding, as indicated by the number plates 52, best indicated in Figure 4, on the control board. Another single jack will be disposed adjacent to the plate 50 and electrically connected therewith through a resistance 54 and a lead 5S will connect the last mentioned single jack 43 with one of the prongs 58 in one of the multipronged disconnect plugs 88 mounted on the rear panel of the cabinet ithereby electrically connecting all of the jacks i8 disposed at a particular location corresponding to a taxi stand with a particular numbered lamp in the directory l2 and with another lamp in the map le. These lamps are similar and are illustrated at t2 in Figure 6, a common contact for the lamps in the map I being provided as hereinbefore stated by the metal plate 38 and the leads 55 being individually connected through the medium of the prongs 53 with an equal number ci conductors in the small cables 64 which may be grouped into a large cable 66 leading to the directory l2, while a similar large cable 68 connects the lamps in the directory I2 With the lamps in the map it.

The dead panel l has a plurality or apertures 70 Which are numbered as best indicated in Figure 4, these numbers corresponding to individual cabs and/ or drivers, and when the corresponding cabs or drivers are idle or inactive for one reason or another the corresponding plugs 48 are inserted into the proper apertures 79 to indicate this fact. It is convenient to mount the dead panel |'5 upright above the control board I4 on the top of thecabinet I8, a brace 72 being provided to steady this dead panel, on each side of the cabinet.

The operation of this invention will be clearly understood from the consideration of the foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof, it being understood that map and directory will vary considerably according to the territory to be administered by the dispatcher, it being understood that the different numbered lamps 62 in the map i9 and directory l2 will be disposed behind transparent panels 74 in the case of the map and preferably larger panels i6 in the case of the directory. Obviously suitable means must be provided to prevent the transmission of light from one lamp into the parts of the map and'directory which are to be illuminated by the other lamps. A convenient form of transparent panel for an individual lamp is represented in Figure 6, integral ange portions 78 extending into apertures in the panel of the lamp l0. It will be clear how the insertion of a plug 40 into separated jack 48, as indicated in Figure I0, will alloW current to flow from the transformer to the directory and map without passing through the resistance 54, and the corresponding lamps will be lighted more brightly than when a plug 40 is inserted into one of the other jacks represented in Figure 10. Accordingly, when the dispatcher wishes to indicate that a cab has arrived at a stand, the proper plug 40, carrying the number assigned to the cabv or the driver, is placed in the separate jack so that this fact will be'indicated by the bright light at this stand location on both map and directory. When another cab arrives at that stand, or when another cab has been directed to go to that stand, the corresponding plugs will be placed in the jacks 48 Which are connected to the plate 50 and the dimmer light will show on both map and directory when the rst cab is again dispatched andthe corresponding plug removed.

Minor variation from the illustrated forms of the elements in this invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of this invention and the scope thereof should be determined only as limited by a'proper interpretation of the sub-joined claims.

Having described the claimed as new is:

l. A taxi dispatch board system comprising an electric control board having a plurality of switches having individual particularly identied closing means and arranged positionally in relation to each of a number of locations on said control board, one of said switches at each location having less resistance in its circuit than the other switches at the same location, and a map having a lamp connected to each of said switches. Whereby the dispatch of a taxi to a particular station and the actual arrival of the taXi can be indicated by lights of different intensity on the map and invention, what is the particular taxi to arrive first at the station REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe rile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 998,391 Powell July 18, 1911 1,737,520 Richardson Nov. 26, 1929 2,008,909 Hershey July 23, 1935 2,417,043 Blevvett Mar. 11, 1947 OTHER REFERENCES Electrical Map Aids Fire Department, page 73 of The American City, July 1932. 

